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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127359">The Gaang’s Excellent Adventure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShivaVixen/pseuds/ShivaVixen'>ShivaVixen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Slow Updates, Time Travel, Time Travel Shenanigans, Toph is getting her field trip</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:53:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,138</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShivaVixen/pseuds/ShivaVixen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow, they’re back at the start. </p><p>No one is on script, but they are going to try and save everyone they can.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>721</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Gaang’s Excellent Adventure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is going to be very slow updates, it’s a fun side quest to vent steam when I hit writer’s block.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a blue light, and this time, Zuko knows, it has to be the Avatar and then he can go home finally.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The light fractures and the next thing Zuko knows, he’s engulfed in it.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Druk had curled up next to him, he was tired and then ...)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was back at the start. Thankfully still standing. Why was he back here? What had gone wrong? Things were fine, Korra was doing her job, why was he back?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All he had to do was find Aang. Hopefully he would know what was going on. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Helmsman, set a course for that light!” He ordered. “Are there any settlements nearby?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Prince Zuko, it’s probably nothing.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His uncle was here. He’d have the breakdown in a moment. Shouldn’t his uncle have come back as well?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sit and play a game with me, perhaps with some calming tea.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“In a moment, Uncle, I need to see if there’s a settlement nearby, they’ll know what that was.” Zuko headed up for the charts.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(There is a reunion of three (“four, Appa counts!”) and Katara is crying because she had out lived them and it didn’t matter they were back at the start, they were together.)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zuko doesn’t put on armor, and he makes sure to take the small boat instead of crashing into the watch tower ... and Sokka still charges him. He gets up quickly after Zuko disarms him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t throw the boomerang though, so maybe? Zuko is hesitant to get his hopes up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not here for a fight, just information!There was a blue light not that long ago-“ and that’s when Appa tackled him and licked him. “It’s okay!” He stopped the guards and Aang shows up, looking very determined.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m the Avatar, I’ll go with you, just leave these people alone!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The script is so far off it feels like a comedy ... except Gran Gran and the other women look terrified and Zuko feels sick. He hates seeing that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re a little young for someone who’s supposed to be over a hundred.” Zuko watches as Aang’s face goes to confusion.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m the Avatar.” He repeats, and Zuko wants to roll his eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If only he didn’t have soldiers with him, but Uncle had insisted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright. Come with us.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No!” Katara panicked, and water splashes up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Water bender!” One of the Soldiers reacts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stand down, we’re not here for a girl.” Zuko orders, Gran Gran is looking like her heart is about to stop.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sir, the Firelord’s orders are to capture all Waterbenders when discovered.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zuko is going to scream, he can see Aang who’s looking up at him in a panic because this is not how this whole thing went down the last time.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And I can’t disobey the orders of the Firelord ... take her.” Zuko doesn’t want to do this. But if word gets back to Zhao or his father ... he needs to be able to run as much interference as possible. The soldiers move and grab Katara who looks like she’s frozen in surprise.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What, no!” Sokka lunges again and Zuko stops him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Leave the beast, we’ve got no room on the boat and I’m sure the tribe can use the meat. Not like there’s any strategic minds around here.” Zuko mutters, and finally recognition sets in.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You-!” Sokka nearly looks happy and Zuko tosses him into a snowdrift.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let’s go! We don’t need to trouble these people any further!” Zuko ordered.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katara and Aang stare at him as they were taken to the ship. He does his best to not react, or even look at them, because if he does... it’s very likely he was going to grab them into a hug.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sir, we don’t have cells prepared-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They can stay in my room until the cells are prepared ... Uncle, would you mind bringing them some tea?” Zuko has no idea what to do. He’s sure everyone is judging him for it, but they’re already off script.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course!” Uncle smiled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zuko lead the way to his room.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Here, the guards will be outside while we wait for Uncle. I have some extra cushions somewhere...” Zuko shut the door before the guards could come in. “Damnit Katara why did you attack the soldiers? I literally have no plan for this!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s you. You’re here too!” Katara says and her eyes are bright as she grabbed him into a hug. Aang swiftly joined.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah.” Zuko hugged them both. “I’m still mad at you. I was trying to make a better impression for Gran Gran, but instead of grabbing her, I end up kidnapping you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You were respectful about it though!” Aang laughs.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is serious! Katara, the men are setting up a cell for you. Last time Aang was able to overpower me and escape. But there’s three guards on the door this time and I can’t... I can’t join you until the North Pole at the earliest. You’re going to need me running interference as much as possible. We have to fight each other.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s not fair!” Katara glared at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s not, but the only reason Zhao didn’t get you the last time was because I sabotaged his efforts because I was desperate.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“... We need Uncle.” Katara realized. “He’ll know what to do.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A knock on the door and they quickly sprang apart, Katara crossing her arms and glaring at him while Aang was poking through the his theater scrolls.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah! I hope nobody minds Jasmine tea!” Uncle came in cheerfully, door closing right behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I love it!” Aang sat down. Katara sat next to him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had it!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s been even longer since we’ve had it made by you Uncle.” Katara added.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What do you mean?” Uncle looked at the three of them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So, remember how I got hit by the light?” Zuko asked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, either I got a vision of my entire future or I’ve traveled back in time from when I died. We’re not sure which. And uh, I’m not the only one.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s me, my brother and Aang as well, possibly Toph and Suki.” Katara explained, and made a white lotus tile out of ice. “We never officially joined, but we did work with the White Lotus.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I see. So either you all shared the same vision, or you’ve all traveled back in time. What was your plan?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My plan was to interfere with the hunt for the Avatar as much as possible while pretending to chase him around the world, but someone decided to waterbend!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just ... I kinda regretted letting you take Aang without a fight last time.” She drank the tea sulkily.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And I regretted how I acted, which should have been a clue not to attack, I’m the one who doesn’t think things through, remember?” Zuko glared at her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Guys, we’re asking Uncle for help! Sokka will be coming to our rescue soon.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right. They kinda need to escape.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s very close to treason.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m aware, but ... if we don’t do this, when Sozin’s comet comes around, Father will use it to burn the entire Earth continent to the ground. Or worse, if things change too much.” Zuko sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Toph isn’t going to sit around and wait for us.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“... whoever finds her keeps her?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sokka is going to have a headache when he realizes this.” Zuko suddenly thought of something. “Please tell me you still have your bending.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s weaker, and I’ll have to train it back up again, but I’ll be able to get back up to normal.” Aang assured him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Great ... and what about Jet?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katara choked on her tea.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We can’t change everything, and might not be able to save everyone we’ve lost, but we do need to think about at least trying that.” Zuko reminded them, feeling a familiar headache. “... you two were just going to do what you wanted. Do you not remember the people you saved, like Haru and Teo?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Heh, I was just excited to see you guys and Uncle.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m going to have to chase you to keep you on track, aren’t I?” Zuko sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“First they have to get off the ship.” Uncle Iroh reminded them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, about that ... I have an idea.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(And it still ends with his ship damaged and running into Zhao. Damn it.)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Sunshine, I want my field trip.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zuko froze. “Toph?” She was there, blindly grinning up at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yep! I got bored. And now I’m your problem!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I guess so. How’d you get here?” Zuko’s still tired from dealing with pirates and damn Katara why did she steal the water scroll again?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’d paid them to compensate for the scroll, only for them to decide they wanted Aang’s bounty. An amount he didn’t have. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So, yeah, that was fun. At least the others got away.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They just missed Toph’s arrival.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, it wasn’t easy. And I may have scammed my parents a little. Again. I was trying to get to Haru’s village.” Toph sighed. “I think I was actually kidnapped for a bit, but they did help me find you, so.” She shrugged.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zuko is not going to ask. He likes being the mostly sane one in his family. “Can you metal bend?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The grin that has more teeth than a shark is actually a good sign.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Prince Zuko, who is your new friend?” Uncle asks when he leads her to the ship.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A useful headache.” Zuko sighs. “Do we have a spare room for her?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sir I have to protest-“ Jee starts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Which is when Toph metalbends the floor and makes herself a chair. “Let’s go Sunshine!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">None of the crew moves, they’re too stunned. So’s Uncle.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s a metal bender and I owe her.” Zuko sighs again. “She’s my responsibility, let’s go!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The crew remained baffled as Zuko actually waited on the little girl who can metal bend, even cooking for her!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The confusion gets worse when the two spar, and Zuko ends up dodging pieces of his own ship, and the girl shouting insults that had most of the crew (and they were the dregs of the dregs of the navy) blushing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lt. Jee ends up with the girl when Zuko is busy.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sunshine is doing that breathing thing again. I’m bored.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Go cloud watching then.” Jee is not paid enough to babysit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The girl laughs. “That’s funny.” Her bangs fall out of her eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Which are clouded over. She’s not actually looking at Jee.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re blind.” Jee is horrified. Behind him, someone is choking.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re just now noticing? What did you think Sunshine sometimes held my hand and guided me around for?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Err ... I didn’t?” Jee had thought she was trying to be cute or something. He had absolutely no experience with little girls, especially the ones that yelled like drill sergeants.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wow. None of you noticed?” She grinned. It wasn’t a nice grin.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(“Stop harassing my crew just because they didn’t realize you were blind.” Zuko sighs when Toph starts teasing the crew, especially Jee, like she does Sokka.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No way, Sunshine!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry Lieutenant, I tried.” Zuko gives up. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jee twitches, because that was not actually trying.)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The storm is still a mistake, but Uncle learns to redirect lightning, no crew is lost, and Toph is hugging him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Why is Toph hugging him? And metal bending so Uncle can’t get near them?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Toph is going to lock Zuko up where no one can hurt him. She knew that Ozai had burned Zuko’s face, and that he was jerk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hadn’t known that Uncle was there or that he hadn’t done anything to stop it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She likes Uncle, but right now she doesn’t want him near Zuko. It was his fault Zuko got burned. He should have taken responsibility for letting Zuko in the war room!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Toph has regrets and plans. She’ll try to make her family again, try to do better, but that’s a long ways off and Zuko needs her now.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now, Toph has never actually done the whole, touch a person’s face to ‘see’ them. At least not willingly. Her parents had made her ‘look’ at their faces when she was little and frankly she wants to have a conversation with whoever they learned it from. She’s looked for people’s pulses when the floor was wood or ice, but physical appearance means nothing to her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s known that Zuko scar makes one eye squint and makes him look mean. What no one ever mentioned was that it went to his ear and his scalp, because his bastard of a father had placed his hand on Zuko and set him on fire. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Forget Aang taking away the Fire Lord’s bending, this time she’s going to kill Ozai.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And the world spins on, ignorant of just how crazy it’s going to become.</span>
</p>
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